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Advocacy Through Leadership
JoAnne Gilmore, BSN, RN, CNN, ANNA President-Elect
The
American Heritage College Dictionary defines an advocate as one
who “argues for a cause, a supporter or defender.” Every
day, no matter what our clinical setting, nurses and nurse leaders
advocate for patients, patients’ families, our co-workers, and
ourselves.
We lead and advocate at our facilities, in our communities, in our
association, and in our profession. Our clinical duties routinely
thrust us into leadership roles. In addition to providing direct
patient care, nurses educate patients and families and act as liaisons
to doctors, pharmacists, administrators, and many others in our
increasingly complex health care system. On-the-job experience,
however, is just one pathway to leadership. The question for every
nurse, no matter the workplace, is this: Are you the best leader you
can be?
In
an article written by Susan Hassmiller (2006, p. 67), she states “Some
nurses hone leadership skills by serving as supervisors, managers, or
board members within their health care organizations, or by
representing those organizations in their communities. Others
pursue specialty certification or higher education. Opportunities to
sharpen our leadership skills exist outside these traditional pathways;
the tough part for all of us is having the drive to take up the
challenge.”
The Challenge of Leaders
Our
challenge as leaders is to build organizations/associations that can
inspire behaviors that create a culture of caring. This culture of
caring inspires and excites others who in turn exhibit the same caring
behaviors. In challenging times, such as now, attending to the
preservation of people’s individual souls and development of the soul
of an organization/association is equally as important as anything else
a leader can do.
Successful leaders depend upon their ability to build meaningful
communities in which people can work, live, and grow. Each of us spends
more time at work than at any other single place in our lives. We, as
leaders, must be committed to creating communities of friendship and
trust, where we can help each other to succeed.
Leaders of today must have the courage to care. Leaders will need to go
beyond the bottom-line performance and care for not only the staff but
for the good things the organization/association can do and what good
things the organization/association can do in the community. Managers
make choices that promote or impede the development of a sense of
community. Creating a community dedicated to the common good is what it
is all about. We can lead this charge by advocating every day.
In John C. Maxwell’s book “Developing the Leader Within You” (Maxwell, 1993, pp. 201-202), he wrote the following:
This world needs leaders…
Who use their influence at the right times for the right reasons;
Who take a little greater share of the blame and a little smaller share of the credit;
Who lead themselves successfully before attempting to lead others;
Who continue to search for the best answer, not the familiar one;
Who add value to the people and organization they lead;
Who work for the benefit of others and not for personal gain;
Who handle themselves with their heads and handle others with their hearts;
Who know the way, go the way, and show the way;
Who inspire and motivate rather than intimidate and manipulate;
Who live with people to know their problems and live with God in order to solve them;
Who realize that their dispositions are more important than their positions;
Who mold opinions instead of following opinion polls;
Who understand that an institution is the reflection of their character;
Who never places themselves above others except in carrying responsibilities;
Who will be as honest in small things as in great things;
Who discipline themselves so they will not be disciplined by others;
Who encounter setbacks and turn them into comebacks;
Who follow a moral compass that points in the right direction regardless of the trends.
It has also been written that to attain excellence in leadership: “Care
more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe,
dream more than others think is practical and expect more than others
think is possible” (Kerfoot, 1997, p. 50).
JoAnne Gilmore, BSN, RN, CNN
ANNA President-Elect
Member, Desert Vista Chapter
References
Kerfoot, K. (1997). Leadership: The courage to care. Nursing Economic$, 15(1), 50-51.
Hassmiller, S.B. (2006). Are you the best leader you can be? American Journal of Nursing, 106(2), 67.
Maxwell, J.C. (1993). Developing the leader within you. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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